


Medieval AU

by Heartless_Zombie



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Eduardo/Laurel is here, Medieval AU, but not a main part of the story, check out more about this au at ask-medieval-au on tumblr
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24576478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heartless_Zombie/pseuds/Heartless_Zombie
Summary: The Kingdom is about what you would expect. King Matthias, though a bit dim, rules justly and fairly with the assistance of his knight and best friend Sir Edd. Nothing is perfect, but it's better than nothing.All that changes when Sir Edd finds a man passed out in the rubble of the old church.
Relationships: Eduardo/Laurel (Eddsworld)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 9





	1. The Man with Horns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sir Edd goes about his daily rounds and is met with a surprise.

The day had just begun. The sun had peeked over the buildings in the city, and the air was still chilled from the long night. Small patches of wildflowers grew amongst the grass and morning dew.  Sir Edd, clad in armor, went to the stables as he did every morning. He whistled as he went, carrying along with him a handful of sugar cubes. His horse poked its head out with a happy winnie the minute he got close.

“Good morning Ringo,” Sir Edd greeted his horse, patting her nose with one hand while holding out the cubes with the other, “Did you have a good sleep?”  Ringo snorted before munching down.  “I’ll take that as a yes then,” Sir Edd chuckled. He left the rest of the cubes on the door for Ringo as he pulled a saddle and reigns off the wall, “We’re staying in the city today. The King just wants us to keep an eye out for trouble,” He scurried up over the door and started saddling Ringo up, “Though, with how quiet everything has been lately, I think it will be an easy day.”

After suiting Ringo up, he climbed up onto her back and left the stables. Already the city streets were bustling with life. Merchants stood at their stalls trying to call passersby over to their wares. Children played tag, bobbing and weaving through the crowd to try and catch each other. Elders watched the world around them from their doorstep. Even the cityfolk’s pets were out exploring.

Sir Edd circled about the main area, pleased to see that everyone was getting along and no one needed him. He pulled off at the local tavern, tying Ringo’s reigns to a post outside before heading inside. 

“Stopping in early for a drink?” The tender greeted him, pinning a wanted poster to the board on the back wall.

Sir Edd shook his head, “No no, just a sweet roll will do.” 

The tender circled around to the kitchens and wrapped up a fresh roll in paper. He came back out and handed it to the knight, “That will be two silver coins.”

Sir Edd pocketed the roll and handed over the money, “Upping the price I see?”

The tender sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, “Yeah. Bing got drunk last night and broke my tables before running off. Gotta pay for damages somehow.”

“Sorry to hear that. I’ll keep an eye out for him,” Sir Edd replied before heading out, “Have a good day, Larry.”

“You as well.” Larry replied before returning to his work.

Sir Edd stepped out of the tavern and almost bumped into a little kid that was standing there. The poor thing looked panicked, eyes wide with fear.  “Sir Knight! I found someone collapsed on the ground! I think he’s dead!” She cried as her face reddened from tears.

Sir Edd stooped down and put his hand on the little girl’s shoulder, “Can you tell me where?”

The girl sobbed, shaking with fright, “T-The old church. The one that burnt down. M-My friends and I were playing, and we saw him, and and-” She clenched her eyes.

Sir Edd patted her shoulder gently, trying to calm her down, “Hey, it’s okay sweetie. I will take care of it, okay? You should go home to your parents now.” He reached into his pockets and handed her the sweet roll, “Here’s a treat. You were very brave for coming to me.”

The girl nervously took it, a smile cracking through her sobs, “Thank you sir.” She hugged Sir Edd around the neck before heading back home.

He quickly got back onto his horse and raced over to the ruined church, trying his best not to trample anyone in the process. If he was fast enough, the person the girl found could still be saveable.

The old church was nestled in a part of the city that was said to be cursed. All the buildings in the area were constantly burning down and the people that lived there were taken by disease. All around were the ashen remains of houses and shops. The road was overgrown with weeds and trash.  The church stood in the middle of it all. The damage left it as nothing but a skeleton of what it originally was. The floor was filled with stone rubble and splintered wood. 

Sir Edd took a deep breath before hopping off his horse, “Hello?” He called out, hoping that the girl just found someone that was sleeping. He stepped into the rubble, and spotted a large object that was under a piece of stained cloth. The face of a man was peeking out from under it. Sir Edd ran over, immediately noticing the face was badly bruised.  “Hey, wake up!” he kneeled down and shook the body, sighing with relief when he saw that the man was still breathing. The stains on the cloth looked suspiciously like blood, “Did someone attack you?” He wondered out loud, picking up the unconscious man and hoisting him over his shoulder, “Let’s get you to a doctor.”

Doing his best to keep hold of the unconscious man, he rode back to the castle. The way they were positioned, the man was facing him and had his head on Sir Edd’s shoulder. The cloth was still draped over him like a blanket. Something on the man’s head was scraping against Sir Edd’s armor. It sounded like a rock scraping against metal, so he assumed it was a helmet of some sort. 

Once at the castle, Sir Edd carried the man all the way to the doctor.  “Doctor Yanov! Come quick!” He called, rushing into the doctor’s room.

Doctor Yanov looked up from the herb garden he was tending to and gasped, “What- Edd, what on Earth?” He exclaimed, “Put him on the bed.”

Sir Edd did as he was told, “I found him lying in the old church. I think someone attacked him.”

“With a blanket looking like that, I would not doubt.” Yanov replied. He grabbed up bandages and a wet cloth before taking a deep breath, “Okay, let’s see what we’re working w-” He paused. He lifted up the stained blanket to see that the man had horns. Big horns at that.

Sir Edd noticed Yanov freeze and panicked, “What’s wrong, is he okay?!”

Yanov lowered the blanket a bit and looked him in the eye, “Now, when you said you found him in the old church, did he happen to be in a pentagram?”

Sir Edd cocked an eyebrow, “Uh, no. Why?” He came to the otherside of the bed to try and see what Yanov was talking about.

Yanov replied simply, “I think you found a demon. Look.” He pointed at the horns sticking out of the man’s spiky hair. 

He was dumbfounded. In all his time as a knight, not once had he seen anything like that. Here, he thought he knew every race of people within the kingdom, and now here before him was a man with horns like a goat.  “Whoa,” He gasped in amazement, taking the blanket from Yanov and throwing it to the side. 

The man was dressed in old, ragged clothes colored with vibrant blues. Most of his body resembled a normal human, but his hands and feet were purple paws that resembled a wild animal. A long spiky tail curled around his leg, covered in hard scales.

“I- I never seen anything like it.” Sir Edd muttered to himself, lifting up one of the man’s hands to see if it was real. He gasped, “Yanov look, he has paw pads like a kitty!”

Yanov pinched his arm to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. He pushed Sir Edd aside, “Right, well let’s fix him up. We won’t be able to figure out what he is if he dies.”


	2. A Meeting with the King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom wakes up to quite the predicament.

Light forced its way through the man’s eyelids, rudely pulling him from his sleep. Every part of his body ached with pain. Pulling himself up, he looked around the room and froze. Wherever he was, it definitely wasn’t his home. Everything was some shade of green or gold. Paintings of landscapes and people hung from the walls. The bed he found himself in was soft and warm.  Looking down, he was no longer in his usual clothes. He was wearing a plain nightgown that was much too big for him, covering the itchy bandages all over his body.  “...Huh,” He muttered to himself, “This is new.”

He tried to get up out of bed, only for something to yank back and send him tumbling face first onto the floor. If his face didn’t hurt before, it did then. Looking back, a rope was tied around his ankle and the end of the bed.  The man sighed, “There’s always a catch.” 

He heard footsteps echoing from the other side of the door. Figuring it was his captors, he sat up and stared at the entrance, waiting for whoever it was to show themselves.  Unfortunately, the footsteps went away from the door, “Oh, I see,” he grumbled, ears folding back against his head in frustration, “They’re taunting me.” He tried to untie the knot himself since no one was coming, but the more he struggled with it, the tighter it became. 

He lightly smacked the side of his head, “Duh, you’re a drake. Just burn it.” The man took a deep breath, readying for the plume of fire. What came out wasn’t fire, but actually little embers that extinguished themselves before they could even touch the rope, “...The one time I need fire breath, and I can’t use it. Of course.”

He sat there on the floor for what seemed like hours. One leg was up in the air because of the rope, leaving the man very limited ability to sit comfortably.

Suddenly, he heard two voices behind the door. His ears perked up, and he strained to hear what they were saying.  "Why on Earth do you want to keep that thing in the castle? What if it eats someone?" One voice questioned, sounding frustrated. It didn't take long for the man to figure out they were talking about him.

"You don't know that. Maybe he's a friendly monster?" Another voice replied, "Besides, Edd trusts him, and he's an excellent judge of character. He's never been wrong before."

The first voice groaned, "Yes okay, you have a point, but there's still a possibility, Your Majesty."

The other voice laughed, "You have a possibility of choking on your food every time you eat, but it doesn't stop you."

The other face grumbled in defeat before walking away, leaving only one person behind the door. It swung open to reveal a tall man dressed in fine clothes and topped off with a crown. He looked down at the man on the floor and asked, "What are you doing down there?"

The man grumbled and pulled himself back up into the bed. He didn’t really want to talk to someone that kidnapped him and tied him down like a dog, “Nothing.” He stated flatly, “Who are you anyway?”

“Oh, I am King Matthias,” he replied with a smile, “Or Matt for short. I don’t really mind either way.” He came up to the man, sitting at the edge of the bed, “And might I ask who you are?”

“Tom,” the man replied, scooting away from Matt as far as the rope would allow, “So mind telling me why I’m here?”

Matt nodded, “Oh, yes, sorry about that. One of my knights found you passed out in the street and covered in wounds. He didn’t realize you weren’t human because you had some sort of cloth wrapped around you. You can imagine everyone’s shock.”

Tom curled his tail around him defensively, “So your solution was to lock me up?”

Matt raised his hands and shook his head, “No, it wasn’t my idea. Our doctor is particularly afraid of you, so he insisted on locking you in the dungeon. This room was our compromise.” 

Tom opened his mouth to ask something, but was cut off by a knight that invited himself in.  "Your Majesty, I came as soon as I could," He puffed, clearly out of breath. He propped himself up against the door, "What-," he wheezed, clearing his throat, "Sorry. What seems to be the problem?"

Matt just gave him a confused look, "...Edd, I'm fine. I was just talking to our guest."

"Doctor Yanov said you were in danger," Sir Edd replied, flipping up the visor of his helmet.

Matt rolled his eyes, "No, I'm fine. He's just being dramatic." He hopped up from the bed and untied the rope from the end. He left the other side around Tom's ankle, "Here, how about you show our new friend around." He placed the free end of the rope in Sir Edd's hand before walking off, "I have a meeting I need to attend. Farewell to the both of you."

Sir Edd looked down at the rope in his hand and chuckled, "Heh, it's kinda like a dog leash." He lightly tugged on it to get Tom up, “C’mon, let’s go for a walk.”

Tom grumbled, “I’m not a dog.” He stepped up next to Sir Edd, tilting his head up to look him in the eye, “Why are you so tall? What are you on? Stilts?”

Sir Edd just laughed, “No, I’m just naturally this way. Come on, let’s go.” He headed out the door, pulling Tom along by the ankle.


	3. Enter the Rat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom and Sir Edd go on their tour, unaware of the person watching and following them.

To say Sir Edd wasn’t scared of Tom would be a lie. There was plenty he feared about the man. To start, he looked like a demon with his pitch black eyes and horns. Then there was the fact that he made it very clear he wasn’t human, rather a creature known as a drake. However, he really didn’t see Tom as a threat. More like a weaponized puppy.

As they went around the castle, Tom looked over every little thing. He was as curious as a cat. He poked his head in every room and asked about things Sir Edd had never heard of before, and at the same time was confused by the simplest of objects.  “So mind if I ask why you have so much enchanted glass everywhere?” Tom asked, looking into a large mirror that was hanging in the hall, “This is...probably the fifteenth one I've seen so far.”

Sir Edd stopped to look at his reflection with him, fixing his belt and the feather plume on his helmet, “It’s actually a mirror, and Matt cares a lot about his appearance, so he has them all over the castle.”

“Huh, so more of that normal human stuff. Kinda boring,” Tom replied, sounding disappointed, “So you guys really don’t have magic here? Not a bit?”

Sir Edd shook his head, continuing down the hall with Tom following close behind, “No. There’s stories of magic and such, but none of them are real. At least, I think so. Matt still believes in fairy tales.”

Tom hummed in response as things clicked into place, “That explains why my fire breath wasn’t working.”

Sir Edd stopped and looked back at him, “Your what now?”

“Fire breath.” Tom replied casually as if it was normal, “Though, if there isn’t any magic here, it’s more of a glorified spark. I kinda rely on magic force for it to work.”

“Magic...force? What on Earth are you talking about?” Sir Edd questioned.

Tom paused, trying to figure out how to explain it, “Oh boy, okay. So...my kind of magic is what’s called natural magic. It’s something a person is born with the ability to do, but it relies on a force for it to work. Magic force is just something all around, like air. It’s a “without air, you can’t breathe” type thing.”

Sir Edd nodded, not quite understanding fully, but he had the general idea, “I understand completely.”

Tom just gave him a weird look before moving on. The two roamed the halls, occasionally stopping their tour for questions or just them goofing off. Neither of them were aware they were being watched.  Up on the windowsill was a man staring in through the window. A red hood and blue scarf covered his face. The man smirked upon seeing Tom and said to himself, “So he’s still kicking. Good.”

He leapt down from the windowsill and onto the floor of a tower below him. Despite being up so high, he landed with the lightness of a feather.  “What the-?!” A guardsman that had been on watch on the tower exclaimed, drawing his sword, “How did you get here?!”

The red hooded figure shrugged, “I was wondering that myself. Everything is a bit of a blur.” He didn’t seem to care at all about the guardsman threatening him.

“Come with me peacefully intruder, or else things are going to get ugly!” The guardsman demanded, pointing his sword point directly into the hooded man’s face.

The hooded man sighed, “You humans are so annoying, you know that. Like seriously, get over yourselves,” He calmly walked away from the guardsman to the edge of the tower. He turned to face him on the edge and waved goodbye before falling backwards towards the ground.

“You idiot! You’re going to die!” The guardsman shouted, watching as the hooded man plummeted down to earth.

The hooded man whistled a bird call, and just before he could touch the ground, a giant hawk swooped from the sky and grabbed him in its talons. The two zoomed upwards, passing by the guardsman before flying away.  The man shimmied onto the hawk’s back, “Nice work there Patrick! I think that guard crapped his pants!” 

The hawk sighed, “You need to be more careful Tord. What would happen if you actually got caught?”

Tord scoffed, “Use magic, duh. These fools have none, and if what I heard Tom and that knight say is correct, he doesn’t have any either. I’m untouchable.”

“What is important is us getting back home right now. Your feud with that drake can wait.” Patrick lectured, lowering down toward the trees of the forest. A small camp was set up in the clearing. He landed in front of the campfire, sliding Tord off his back before turning back into his normal form.

“You know what Pat, maybe you guys are called familiars because you remind me of my mom with all that nagging,” Tord teased, slipping off his hood and scarf, “And speaking of which, where’s Paulson? I thought he was keeping watch.”

Patrick shrugged, slipping off his boots and stretching, “You know how he is. He does what he wants whenever he wants to.” He flopped down on the grass and stared up at the sky, “So, did you figure out how you managed to drag us all here yet?”

Tord shook his head and sat down on a log nearby, “No.” He sighed, “Whatever happened is all a blur. My best guess is that a spell backfired and caused all this.”

Tord really didn’t worry about the situation as much as his familiars did. He still had his magic thanks to his staff. The world around them wasn't that bad either. Sure it was filled to the brim with stupid humans, but he could live with it. The nature was so calm and peaceful, much better than the wandering forests and seas full of beasts back home in his opinion.  "I'm going into town for awhile. Stay here in case Paulson comes back." He wandered back towards the city before Patrick could object.

His camp was not far from the edge of the city. Within a few minutes he arrived and wandered around the twisting paths. The sun was setting over the buildings, casting the sky in a brilliant gold that reminded Tord of home. As he looked around, citizens stopped to stare at him. His clothes were brightly colored and his ears pointier than normal. Strapped to his back was a large wooden staff with a blue orb in the center.

At the same time, Sir Edd took Tom’s tour outdoors to the city streets. The two were exploring the local market. Tom had to wear an oversized cloak to hide the fact that he was not a human. The hood hung down in his face to hide his eyes, but also made it hard for him to see.  “Are you really sure I need this thing?” Tom grumbled, lifting up his hood just enough so he could see where he was going.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Sir Edd replied, guiding him through the streets. He gave up on holding the rope and just let the man wander freely, “The last thing we need is a mass panic because someone saw you. The last time that happened, the townsfolk tried to execute the king because they thought he was a vampire.”

Tom looked up from the booth of wood carving he was looking at, “...Was he?”

Sir Edd laughed, punching Tom’s shoulder playfully, “Of course not! Some idiot saw him drinking wine and thought it was blood. It was an interesting day, I’ll tell you that.” The two continued down the path, minding their own business. 

Tord happened to round the corner when he saw a man in a green cloak slip by. He swore he saw the end of a tail slip out from under it for a brief second. A smirk grew on his face as he backed into an alleyway.

“That overgrown salamander couldn’t hide if his life depended on it,” Tord chuckled to himself, pulling out a spell book from under his cloak, “Let’s see...A cat’s too obvious...People would question a random horse wandering the street...Ah, a rat! Perfect!” He memorized the words on the page before tucking it away. “Rotte!”  Upon shouting his spell, he slowly shrunk down into the form of a rat. All his clothes and items magically disappeared. Tord checked himself over before running after Tom and his knightly companion.


	4. The Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tord and Tom finally run into each other, and all hell breaks loose.  
> Edit: changed one of the word's in Tom's dialogue to fit with the newer chapters

Catching up to them was easier said than done. Tord’s short legs forced him to sprint at full force just to keep up. That, and he had to bob and weave around feet, hooves, and carriage wheels so that he wouldn’t get stepped on. “Slow down you drittsekker!” He shouted in a huff. His squeaky little rat voice made it hard to hear, at least for a normal human.

Tom stopped in the middle of the road and whipped around. He could have sworn he heard someone familiar yelling at him. Looking around, no one was paying attention to him and just went about their business.

“Something wrong?” Sir Edd came over to check on him.

Tom took one last glance around before shaking his head, “No. I thought I heard something. Probably just nothing.” He started forward, “You said there’s a tavern around here?” While Tom had stopped, Tord took the opportunity to climb onto the edge of Tom’s cloak and ride along. The ride was bumpy, but he managed to keep hold. The biggest challenge was avoiding Tom’s tail that had come close to smacking him off more than once. 

“Screw this.” Tord grumbled to himself after dodging another swipe, almost falling to the ground. Calculating his jump in his head, he leapt from Tom’s cloak to the edge of Sir Edd’s belt. Luckily no one noticed him. Taking his chance, Tord scurried further up to where he was in the middle of Sir Edd’s back.

This was a bad move, because Tom spotted movement in the corner of his eye, and when he looked over he saw a giant rat climbing up Sir Edd like he was a jungle gym, “Hey, there’s a little something,” He gestured toward his back.

“Oh?” Sir Edd reached behind him and swatted around, sending Tord flying to the ground.

“SON OF A FAEN OW!” Tord shouted in pain. This time he was loud enough that both of them could hear him, “I mean- Squeak squeak?” Tom growled in response, reaching down to grab him, “Gotta go, bye!” He tried to run away, only to get plucked up by the tail.

Tom glared at the rat in his hand, holding it up high enough that they could be eye to eye. Well, as best as he could with the cloak still in his face, “What are you doing here Tord?” He growled lowly, baring his fangs.

“Tord? Who’s Tord?” Tord blatantly lied, “I’m just a rat. A normal everyday talking rat that eats cheese and spreads plague.”

Sir Edd poked the rat in the side, “I never seen a rat talk before. Do you and Tom know each other?”

Tom sighed, wrapping Tord up in his fist so he couldn’t get away, “Sadly, yes. This is Tord, some wannabe dark wizard that won’t leave me alone.” He tightened his grip just enough to make him uncomfortable, “Come on, turn back to normal. Don’t make me squish you.”

“Fine.” Tord whined, “Put me down first.” Tom rolled his eyes and set him on the ground, “Sayonara sucker!” Tord bolted away as fast as he could, not looking back.

“HEY!” Tom shouted, racing after him. At first he started on just his legs, but as he chased after the rat, he ran on all fours like a wild animal. Edd tried to stay close even though his heavy armor made it hard to catch up. The crowd parted out of their way, staring at what looked like a grown man barreling down the street like a mad dog. A carriage didn’t make it out of the way in time. The hitch snagged onto Tom’s cloak, tearing it off and revealing to all the passersby what he was. Sir Edd followed the sounds of screaming and pushed against the flow of people running away. The crowd soon became too strong for him to push past, sweeping him along like an ocean wave.

“Give it up Tommie!” Tord taunted as he made a sharp turn down an alley, “I’m too fast for you!” 

Tom pounced, snagging Tord just by the end of his tail and sending both of them barreling into a farmer’s cart. “Alright, fun’s over! Turn back right now!” Tom roared, baring his fangs. He completely ignored the poor farmer that was running away from his destroyed cart in fear.

Tord did as he was told, slowly growing back into his original form, “Fine. You’re no fun, you know that?” He stuck his tongue out playfully, readying his staff, “Anyways- I finally found you Thomas! You skipped out on our battle! How about we finish it right here?”

Tom snarled at him, “Is that what this was all about?! What is wrong with you?!”

“A dark wizard is nothing without a nemesis to fight,” Tord replied as a spark of electricity lit up the orb in his staff, “Otherwise I’m just some jerk with magic.”

“Oh for the love of- I’m not your nemesis! I just want my friend back!” Tom growled, “The minute I get her back I’m done with you!”

Tord lowered his staff with a sniffle. He tried to force back his tears, “That’s...That’s hurtful. And I thought I was evil.” He bashed his staff against the ground, sending an electric shockwave cascading from him and throwing back Tom as well as the wreckage of the cart, “It makes me feel better about destroying you honestly.”

Tom fell on his back, head smacking against the cobblestone. His vision blurred and everything started to spin. He forced himself up, taking a blow to the chest from a strong burst of energy from Tord’s staff. Shaking off the pain, he got down on all fours and rushed at Tord, sparking his breath. Even though he couldn’t make a flame, he had all he needed if he could get close enough. He lunged at Tord and clamped down on his arm. Forcing out as much as he could, the sparks ignited Tord’s sleeve.

“Gah! Get off!” Tord panicked, simultaneously trying to shake the other man off and put out the fire. He smacked Tom repeatedly against the ground, trying desperately to force him to let go. However, it only made Tom dig his fangs in deeper, “GET OFF!”. Tord smacked Tom on the head with his staff, using magic to enhance the force enough to knock him to the ground. The second hit to the head from the road was enough to keep Tom down. He couldn’t get up without blacking out or becoming sickeningly dizzy. Of all the ways he imagined going out, getting a concussion because Tord finally succeeded at being evil was on the bottom of his list. He closed his eyes in acceptance of his fate.

The next thing he knew, he heard Tord collapse on the ground with a shout. Someone picked him up and carried him over their shoulders like a lamb. The person was breathing heavily, shaking as he moved. As Tom’s vision cleared, he saw Tord lying on the ground with a giant bruise on his face. Sir Edd was carrying Tom, adjusting him so that he could fit the wizard on his shoulders. “You...beat him? How?” Tom asked.

Sir Edd said casually, “I just punched him. It wasn’t that hard.” He carried off both of them back to the castle, “You both have a lot of explaining to do.”


	5. Explanations

Sir Edd sat in front of the cell, sword at the ready just in case. He had Tord locked up in the dungeon after the stunt he pulled in the middle of the city. Because of him, the citizens were all riled up and crowding around the castle gates demanding answers. He ordered soldiers to keep them back, but there was no telling how long they would last. Last time they only lasted a few minutes before a crowd came rushing in ready to kill the king for being a vampire.

Tom was locked up too, but he didn’t get put into a cell. Rather, he was tied to the legs of Sir Edd’s chair. Tom started to regret complaining about being tied to the bed. In comparison to the damp, cold floor, that room was like heaven.  “Why am I here again?” Tom asked, curling his tail over his cold feet.

“You went tearing through the city like a wild animal and caused a mass panic,” Sir Edd scolded, cradling his head in his hands, “Be a knight they said, it would be fun they said.”

Tom rolled his eyes, “I don’t see why you’re so worried. Just tell them what’s going on.”

Edd shot a glare at him, “Oh sure, I’ll tell them that it's just a dragon man and a wizard from some fantasy fairytale land so there’s nothing to worry about. That can end one of two ways. Either I get marked as a crazy person, or we all get burned at the stake for being witches.”

Tom’s eyes widened in shock, “Wait what?”

Before Sir Edd could reply, King Matthias barged into the room, panting and shaking, “Okay, I think I calmed them down a bit.”

“Why are you shaking then?” Sir Edd asked, sheathing his sword so that he didn’t freak the king out any more.

“I saw someone in the crowd with a wooden stake and I panicked.” Matthias replied, clutching his chest to try and calm himself, “They are not going to stay calm if I can’t give them answers though.”

Tom gestured toward the cell with his thumb, “Good luck. He’s been out for a while now.”

“I was hoping you would know something actually,” Matthias replied, sitting down next to Tom on the floor. Sir Edd tried to offer him a chair but he refused.

Tom scooted away from the king, “Hate to break it to you, but I’m just as much in the dark as you are.”

Sir Edd gave him an odd look, “You don’t have a single clue of what is going on.”

Tom shook his head, “Nope. Last thing I remember was that I was trying to make a sandwich when that rat-” he shot a glare at Tord in the cell, “-came bursting in and attacked me. Next thing I know, I’m here.”

Sir Edd folded his arms, “So then Turd is the one causing all this then.” 

“It’s Tord actually,” Tord corrected him, suddenly appearing up against the bars, “I was waiting to see how long it would take you guys to notice I was awake.” Staff clutched in his hands, he whispered a chant, “Skifte sted,” and with a puff of smoke he reappeared on the other side of the bars, “And Paulson said I would never need teleportation.”

Sir Edd jumped up from his chair and drew his sword, “Listen here you- ...Elf, I guess? Doesn’t matter- You can either cooperate with us and tell us what you’re doing or else.”

Tord laughed in his face, taking joy and Sir Edd’s threat, “Or what? You’re going to poke me with your little stick? Lock me up? Fine me? If you haven’t noticed, I can walk around anything you try to do, so just stop trying, hu- HEY!”

Sir Edd snatched Tord’s staff out of his hands and tossed it into King Matthias’s lap. Without his staff, Sir Edd easily pinned him to the wall, sword at the ready, “Not much without that staff, are you?”

“Give that back!” Tord growled, struggling to escape. It was easier with his magic, but his staff the source of all his power. It was the only thing that gave him an edge against the knight. 

“Yeah, that’s not happening.” Sir Edd growled, “Explain now.”

“Fine fine, I’ll talk, but get that human’s hands off my staff.” Tord glared over at King Matthias, who was trying to figure out how it worked. He was mumbling weird nonsense words, causing the orb at the end to spark and glow, “He’s going to break it.”  King Matthias reluctantly put it down against the wall. He folded his arms with a pout.  “Alright. Well...I don’t know exactly what happened, but I can make a guess. I attacked Tom because I was bored, and there was a new spell I wanted to try out. I don’t remember anything after casting it. I just woke up in some random barn with my familiars.”

King Matthias gave him a weird look, “What on Earth is a familiar?”

Tord sighed at Matthias’s ignorance at magic, even though he shouldn’t have been surprised considering where he was at that point, “They’re...Okay, I think the one is a fae and the other is an imp. Or are they both fae? ...I don’t know, they usually just look like animals. The point is, they’re my assistants.”

Matthias nodded, getting up off the ground and brushing the dirt off his clothes with a cringe, “Anything else you want to say?”

“I hate you all,” Tord replied, sticking out his tongue.

Matthias ordered Sir Edd off, making sure to keep Tord’s staff close in hand, “I’m taking this with me. If anyone needs me, I will be outside relaying the info to my people...and hopefully not getting garlic thrown in my face again.” He waved goodbye with a smile before disappearing through the door.

Sir Edd locked Tord back into the cell, taking his place in his chair once again.  Tom laid on his back against the damp floor and groaned, “I guess I’m not going home anytime soon, am I?”

Sir Edd looked down and tried to comfort him, “Well, on the bright side, if all goes well out there you two will be able to live in the castle until we can find a way to send you back. Where do you guys live anyway?”

“Camelot.” Tord replied flatly. He paced around his cell mentally praying that Paulson and Patrick would hurry up and save him.

“Wait, Camelot? The fictional kingdom from the stories of King Arthur, that Camelot. The one with Excalibur and all that?” Sir Edd questioned in disbelief. It was those exact stories that made him want to join the royal knights from a young age, but he was old enough to know that they were just fairy tales, “You’re joking.”

Tord shook his head with a smirk, “Nope. Tom and I really are from there, and it’s much nicer than here. You humans live like barbarians.”

Sir Edd looked to Tom in disbelief, who only confirmed the wizards story. If they were from Camelot like they claimed, then that changed everything. Excalibur, the lady in the lake, the Holy Grail, all the things he thought were just stories were actually real. He hung his head in his hands.

“Hey, if you’re going to have a mental breakdown, mind letting me out first?” Tord asked, pressing his face against the bars.  Tom just tossed a rock at him with a smirk.


	6. The Feast

A few days had passed. Getting used to the new guests in the castle was much harder than Matthias thought. They were fine at first. Tom stayed out of the way and didn’t really show himself unless necessary. Tord, on the other hand, was like taking care of a defiant toddler. He was constantly trying to cause some sort of trouble even though he was locked up in the dungeons. Somehow he kept getting his staff back, but rather than just leaving, he pranked everyone using his magic. Shrinking Matthias’s throne, making suits of armor come to life, scaring the servants into thinking the castle was haunted, and other annoying tricks just meant to spite them.  As much as he wanted to throw Tord out, Matthias knew he had to grin and bear it. The citizens didn’t take the news of a wizard in the castle as well as he hoped. They were primed and ready to burn him at the stake the minute they saw the wizard. Matthias just had to grin and bear it for the sake of keeping him alive. 

That day, he had a meeting with the neighboring kingdom, an important one at that. The two kingdoms had been at war for a long time, and it was the one year anniversary of the peace treaty. Part of the treaty was having a feast with the king of said kingdom.  King Matthias marched down to the dungeons where Tord was standing innocently in his cell, humming to himself and most likely planning his next prank. 

“Aw, you came to visit me. How sweet,” Tord greeted with a smirk, “So, what do you need me for, your majesty?” He never saw Matthias as a king. To him, it was just a silly, airheaded human in a crown. He faked respect with an exaggerated bow, “I’m all ears.”

The king stood in front of the bars and put on his serious face, “I have an important guest coming here tonight for a feast. It would mean full out war if anything goes wrong. So, I’m here to make a deal with you.”

Tord’s eyes lit up with an impish grin, “Ooh, I like where this is going.”

“I need you to promise me that there will be no pranks all day. None at all.” King Matthias informed him, already regretting his decision.

“What do I get out of it?” Tord groaned, the grin disappearing as quickly as it came.

The king pulled out a book from the pockets of his robes, “Tom said you liked this type of thing. He didn’t really explain, but he said it’s called a...mango?” He curiously flipped through the book, a bit confused since the spine was on the wrong side and it was mostly pictures, “Anyways, be a good boy and you can have this.”

As much as Tord wanted to keep up his reputation as an evil wizard, he couldn’t help but get excited at just the sight of the book. He recognized it immediately as the last one he needed for his collection and came close to squealing in joy, “You got a deal!” 

With that out of the way, King Matthias made his way back upstairs to get ready for the feast. Servants already had the halls decorated with fresh flowers and banners for both kingdoms. The sky was bright and sunny, lighting the castle with a joyful light.  The next person he had to visit was Tom, but that was easier said than done. He had no clue where he was since he rarely stayed in his room. Taking a guess, he went up to the attic. Tom was constantly complaining about all the light in his room, so Matthias figured that it was the darkest room besides the dungeon that Tord would be hiding in.  Sure enough, Tom was curled up in the middle of the attic floor. He made a nest out of old blankets and bits of treasure that had been stored there. He softly snored from his little bed, hugging his tail like a teddy bear.

“Tom.” Matthias whispered. He felt bad for waking up his guest, but it was better for him to talk now than later. He tapped Tom’s cheek with his shoe, “Wake up Tom.”

Tom groaned, just barely opening his eyes, “What?” He grumbled sleepily.

“I’m hosting a feast for a very important guest tonight, and I-” the king started to explain before Tom cut him off.

Tom forced himself to sit up with a yawn, “Sure, I’m down. When is it?”

Matthias shook his head, “Actually, I was hoping you would…” he paused, trying to find a way to word it politely, “I was hoping you wouldn’t come. It’s another king coming over, and if anything goes wrong it could mean the war starting all over again.”

Tom stretched his arms above his head, “So you want me out of sight then? Fine by me.”

The king sighed with relief as Tom took it way better than he thought. He crept down the stairs so the drake could go back to sleep. With the two trouble makers out of the way, nothing could possibly ruin the feast. Matthias made his way to his own room to make himself look presentable.  As the sun set, an ornate carriage pulled into the city. The crowd parted like the sea to watch it pass, marvelling at the people within. For the longest time, the people only knew the neighboring king as a fierce warrior clad in armor. To see him in such a fancy uniform felt unnatural.  Unfortunately for King Matthias, no one was at the front door to let the royal visitors in. He had the entire population of the castle gathered in his room to help him get into a proper outfit and look his best. 

As the carriage pulled up to the castle, the queen looked out from her window, “It looks empty. Are we too early?”

Her husband looked down at his pocket watch, “Nope.” Once the carriage stopped at the front door, the king hopped out to check it out for himself. Sure enough, no one was there, not even guards to keep away intruders.  He knocked on the door as his family and attendants followed him out. 

Meanwhile upstairs, King Matthias felt his heart skip a beat. He took too long getting prepared, “Gah, that’s them!” He exclaimed, looking out the window, “Go go! Hurry up and let him in!” He commanded, sending off a herd of knights, servants, and performers flying out his room, all beelining for the front door.

Tom could hear the knocking all the way up in the attic, stirring him from his nap. With a groan, he forced himself out of bed, “I’m coming, I’m coming.” He grumbled, jumping down the stairs and landing on his feet with the grace of a cat. He made his way to the door before anyone else could and swung it open, “Hello?”

Both the king and queen stared at the man holding open the door. At first glance he seemed like a normal peasant, but it was hard to ignore all the monster parts.  “Wha-” The king started to ask before King Matthias came swooping in and dragged Tom away from the door.

“Sorry about that! He’s the...entertainment. Yes, he’s the entertainment for tonight!” King Matthias apologized with a nervous grin. Even though he looked fine, he felt like a mess, and the fact that they saw Tom was not helping things.

“Oh!” The queen replied, “Sounds thrilling. His costume is so realistic.” She shook King Matthias’s hand before inviting herself in, “Queen Laurel, pleasure to meet you.” She gestured behind her to the rest of her family, “This is my husband Edwardo, and of course little Johnathan.”

King Edwardo greeted Matthias with a plain nod, following out of breath servants to the main room. Prince Johnathan followed close behind with the king's advisor Marcus.  "Sorry about him, it's been a long journey and they're both tired." Queen Laurel apologized, "I should go with him. Will you be joining us?"

Matthias shook his head, still a bit out of breath from running down several flights of stairs, "In a moment. I want to have a word with the entertainer."  Queen Laurel dismissed herself with a small curtsy before joining King Edwardo in the main room. With her gone, Matthias spun around on his heel to face Tom, "I said stay out of sight!"

Tom rolled his eyes, "Hey, no one else was going to let them in."

Matthias wanted to shout at him for blatantly disobeying orders, but then again Tom had a point. He let them in before they could get angry. It wasn't fair to scold him for saving his behind, "Okay, well, now they think you're going to be entertaining us. Please tell me you can...I don't know, play an instrument or something."

Tom paused in thought, rubbing his claws against his chin, “Well, I used to play the lyre, but it’s been a while.”

Matthias sighed with relief, “Okay, that’s better than nothing. I’ll have a servant bring you a lyre so you can practice.” He started to walk off toward the main room before looking back, “Oh, and please try to stay out of sight until the feast.”


	7. Long Live the Queen

Tom turned out to be much rustier than he thought. He could hardly stay on tune and kept messing up the notes. It didn’t help that the lyre Matthias provided was too small for his fingers. He kept getting his claws caught in the strings, cutting a few in the process. After an hour of struggling, he dropped the instrument in his chair and marched down to the dungeons.

Tord was sitting alone in his cell, drawing pictures with his fingers in the dirt. He was muttering something to himself, but Tom couldn’t make it out since it was in Tord’s weird language he used for magic.

“Alright rat boy, where’s my friend?” Tom growled, standing in front of the bars with his arms crossed.

Tord just looked up from his drawing with a bored look, “The fact you call that thing your friend is so pathetic it’s sad.”

Tom’s ears folded back against his head in frustration, “Yeah yeah, whatever. Just give her back. I need her for something.”

A cheeky grin grew on his face, “Well, I can give it back to you, but on one condition. Admit that you're my nemesis!”

As much as Tom wanted to object, he forced himself not to. He could either tie his fingers in knots on a broken lyre, or play along with Tord’s stupid game long enough to get his friend back. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Fine.” He grumbled under his breath, “I’m your nemesis.”

Tord cupped his hand around his ear, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear that. Could you say that again?”

Tom groaned, already regretting his decision, “I’m your nemesis.”

Satisfied, Tord reached into a little pouch attached to his belt, and pulled out a lyre patterned with black and white squares. Most of the wood had been scratched up from years of use, “Alright, here you go.”

Tom grabbed it up through the bars and hugged it to his chest, “Oh baby I missed you,” He kissed it and cradled it like a person, much to Tord’s discomfort.

“Alright, you have it back. Now get a room.” Tord spat, shooing Tom away with a wave, “Goodbye, adios, ha det.”

Tom happily trotted back to his nest in the attic and practiced, having a much easier time with his own lyre, of which he named Susanna. After practicing a few different songs, a servant came up to fetch him for the feast.  “The king requests your presence now.” The servant said with a polite bow. Tom didn’t recognize the person. Of all the faces he had seen throughout the castle, he had never seen anyone with such a distinct scar on their face. However, he shrugged it off as nothing. Matthias had a large staff attending to the castle. It was likely for him to not know everyone that worked there.

Tom followed the servant down to the dining hall. King Matthias sat at the head of the table, almost hidden by all the plates of food and table decor. At the other end was King Edwardo, and on either side was Prince Johnathan and Queen Laurel. They were talking and laughing as Tom came in.

“And then I said to the man, ‘Well, if you didn’t want to be attacked by bears, maybe don’t wash yourself with honey’.” King Edwardo laughed heartily as he finished his story. The others at the table were laughing along with him just as hard.

The servant cleared his throat to get their attention, “Sir, I brought the lyrist as you asked.”

King Matthias looked up at the two of them and smiled, “Ah good.” He gestured for Tom to sit on a stool up against the wall, “I hope you have some good music for us.”

Tom shrugged, curling his tail around the stool legs as he sat down, “I mean, good is kinda subjective, but I do have a song.” The room fell silent in wait for Tom to start.

Taking a deep breath, Tom began to play. It was a mellow tune that almost sounded like a lullaby the wake it was being played. Along with the music, Tom sang. His voice was rough from lack of practice, “All ye bully rooks with ye buskin boots, best ye go, best ye go, outrun my bow~. All ye bully rooks with ye buskin boots, best ye go, best ye go, outrun my arrows~.” At the end of the song, everyone applauded, along with Johnathan crying for an encore. 

Meanwhile, the servant with the scar stepped out into the hall. He tapped his foot on the floor three times. Another servant rounded the corner. The other servant was wearing earmuffs with runes embroidered onto them.

“So you really couldn’t fix that,” The scarred servant chuckled, pointing out the earmuffs.

The other folded his arms with a huff, “Hey, this is my first time. It’s fine.” He puffed his cheeks with a childish pout.

“You look like you’re ready for a blizzard.” The scarred servant joked, playfully punching the other in the shoulder, “Did you bring the boot?”

The other servant pulled out a heavy, steel toed boot from behind his back, “Are you sure this is the best way to do this? Wouldn’t it be faster with say, a knife or a sword or...I don’t know, something cooler than a shoe?”

“Trust me brother, this will work,” The scarred servant patted the other on the shoulder reassuringly, “All we need to do is drop that on her head, and the queen will be done for.”

Tord overheard it all from his cell. Where the servants were standing, there was a grate that led straight down into the dungeons. Part of him wanted to ignore it and let it all happen. He was a dark wizard, so he shouldn’t care if there was an assassination plan being made directly over him. But the guilt refused to let him stand by. As evil as he was, he couldn’t force down his conscious that constantly tried to steer him towards the light side. 

Without his staff, he had no way to do magic, but luckily for him one of the bars was loose enough for him to push out. He grabbed his staff off the wall, “Alright, now how to save a life while still keeping my dignity as a dark wizard?” He thought to himself. The servants above him had been silent for a long time. Figuring they were already carrying out their plan, he rushed upstairs, figuring he could wing it once he got there.

He reappeared right outside the dining hall doors. Everyone inside was laughing over music. “All’s clear there.” He muttered, pulling out his spell book, “Let’s see here...ooh, man-hunting spell. That should work,” He pocketed the book and chanted, “Sporhund.”

The staff lit up with a blue light, illuminating a trail of glowing footprints winding up to the catwalk upstairs. Following the light, he found a servant creeping through the hall with a large boot in hand. Conveniently, Sir Edd was coming down the hall at the same time.

“Faen,” Tord grumbled under his breath. Either he could wait and risk losing the soon to be killer, or run out and let the knight catch him. Sir Edd was taking his time, so with a deep breath, Tord bolted out after the servant. He jumped out to try and catch him, but missed just by an inch, and the servant ducked around the corner.

“Tord?! What are you doing out of-” Sir Edd started to question before Tord sprang up and chased after the servant.

“You’ll thank me later!” Tord shouted back at him. 

“Get back here!” Sir Edd cried. He considered running after him, but his armor was so heavy that it wore him out quickly. Instead, he headed down to the dining hall to warn the king that Tord was free and plotting something.

The servant ran out onto the rafters above the dining hall using a small hole he cut in the wall. Tord followed, almost falling off immediately. The lattice of wood creaked under their weight, causing the candle lit chandeliers to rock back and forth. Sticking both his arms out, Tord inched toward the servant, who was doing the same thing just to keep balance.

“Hey!” Tord shouted over the loud music, trying to stop the servant without risking a long fall onto a bed of glass plates and sharp table decor.

The servant ignored him, positioning himself perfectly over Queen Laurel’s head. Tord lunged at him in an attempt to get him before he could drop the boot. He was too late. By the time he had the pinned, the boot had already fallen with a loud crack. A chorus of frightened shouts drowned out the music, signalling that the deed was done.

“What’s the big idea?!” Tord roared, more angry over the fact that he failed than the fact that some human queen was just assassinated.

“Quick money. You should try it.” The servant shrugged nonchalantly, “You don’t get benefits or anything, but it looks good on a resume.”

“What? No! I’m a dark wizard! I do my evil face to face, not in the shadows like a coward.” Tord spat, not noticing that the people below had spotted him.

The servant struggled his way free of Tord’s grip. Grabbing the wizard by the wrists, he calmly replied, “Your loss, weirdo.” Tord plummeted down onto the table below, watching as the servant melted into the shadows with a smirk. Landing on top of plates and silverware hurt just as bad as he thought it would. King Edwardo punching him, on the other hand, was a surprise. The room went black as he heard his nose crunch.


	8. Insert Title Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has been so long since I updated! I started to hit writer's block, and there was some real life stuff that needed me too. But here it is! It's not as good of quality as the other chapters, but this is a bridge into the actual story. Everything else had been a (frankly lengthy) intro of characters and general plot. Anyways, hope you enjoy!

“I SAID NO PRANKS, AND WHAT DO YOU DO?! YOU TRY TO MURDER THE QUEEN OF THE COUNTRY I WAS TRYING TO KEEP PEACE WITH!” Matthias roared at the barely conscious wizard that was tied up in the cell, “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”  
Tord couldn’t process half of what was being said, but he could hear enough to know he was being blamed. If his hands weren’t tied behind his back, he would have been folding them, “I didn’t do it.” He muttered drowsily.

“Then what were you doing up on the rafters?” Sir Edd questioned. He kept his composure much better than King Matthias, who was bright red and shaking in anger.

Tord paused, trying to find a way to word it that he keeps his dignity and get out of trouble, “I saw an assassin, and I figured I should stop him before the blame could fall on me.” He could tell neither of them were buying it, “Wow, I see how little you think of me. Look, I’m evil, but if I were to kill someone, I would do it with style.”

“Look, Tord I would love to believe you, but you realize how ridiculous that sounds, right?” Sir Edd sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Matthias was about to blow up, but luckily his knight was there to help him calm down, “We have guards at every possible entrance, and every type of defense there is. There’s no way an assassin got in here without someone noticing.”

Tord huffed, shuffling himself to look away from them, “Well then something went wrong. I know what I saw. If you’re waiting for me to admit to something I didn’t do, you’re going to be here for a long time.”

Sir Edd and King Matthias went back upstairs to discuss. On one hand, there was no evidence of the supposed assassin even existing, but on the other hand, Tord had a point. He was a pain in the *ss, but not a murderer.  “I think he’s telling the truth,” Sir Edd stated.

King Matthias ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh, “Yes, I do too, but that’s even more troubling. The killer could still be running around the castle under our noses.”

Footsteps echoed down the hall. From the distinct clicking of something hard, both knew it was just Tom. His claws took away all stealth.  Tom padded up to the two of them, grumpy as ever. His hands were stuffed down his pockets and his ears folded back, “Good news and bad news. She’s going to be fine, but she doesn’t know who attacked her.” His eyes darted between Sir Edd and Matthias, though the movement was subtle, “What about you guys? Figure anything out?”

Sir Edd shrugged, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Tord’s innocent. He said he caught some assassin last night.”

Tom’s ears perked up, “Really? That explains the weird smell then.”

King Matthias gave him a confused look with a tilt of his head, “What smells weird?”

“Oh right, humans don’t have good noses.” Tom muttered to himself. He paused in thought. He didn’t know how to really describe it to someone that can’t pick up on scents like he could, “Well...It just didn’t smell human, y’know? I thought the other king just didn’t bathe or something, but it was probably whoever broke in.” He nonchalantly wandered down the steps to the dungeons. He really wasn’t looking forward to what he was about to do, but it was either let Tord out to get him to help track the assassin down, or reduce himself down to looking like a dog and tracking the guy down himself.

“Hey f*ckhead, I- ...I need-,” Tom stuttered, grabbing the cell key off the wall. He couldn’t physically bring himself to say that he needed Tord’s help. His body refused to let those words come out, “Help me or I’ll beat you.” Luckily threats still worked.

Tord struggled to sit up, looking genuinely amused and confused at the same time, “Huh, never thought I would see my nemesis coming to rescue me.” He smirked as Tom swung the door open, “Perhaps you don’t actually hate me after all.” He teased.

Tom growled, dragging his claws along the ropes that were tied around the wizard, “Shut your mouth, Rat Boy.”

The ropes fell away. Tord rubbed his wrists before using Tom’s horns to pull himself up, “Maybe I should make you my new familiar. Mine completely forgot about me. Either that or they died without my permission.”

Tom rolled his eyes with a groan, “Don’t look into it. I need you to find out where the guy from last night went.”

Tord shrugged with a smirk. Just that alone was enough to tell Tom that he made a mistake, “Okay, I will, but I need you to do something for me. S-”

“No, gonna stop you there. Help me or I’m tying you back up.” Tom clamped his hand over Tord’s mouth before he could say whatever embarrassing he wanted him to do. 

Tord shrugged, “Fine, let me just do a thing here.” He summoned up the same glowing trail as before. It led up the stairs and out of sight. Judging from the shouts upstairs, it also passed by Matthias and Sir Edd, “There, that should lead us straight to him.” Before leaving, Tord dropped off his spell book in the middle of the floor, “Remind me that I left it there. I don’t want it to get hurt in case we have to fight.”

The two followed the glowing trail, soon having the king and his knight following behind them. The path twisted around the castle like a snake, almost like the person was wandering around in aimless circles. A few times it went through tiny holes in the wall.

“Are you sure we aren’t following a rat or something?” Sir Edd asked.

Tord glanced back, “99.9% sure. I’d say 100%, but then I would be promising something.”

The trail stopped at the castle balcony. A servant wearing earmuffs stared out over the edge, not noticing the people that walked in on him. 

“That’s him!” Tord growled, springing into action. He summoned up a ball of fire and tossed it at the servant.

“Wh- OH SCHEISSE!” The servant dived out of the way, ducking under the fire just before it could hit him. The fire went roaring past, hitting one of the trees in the garden, “I thought you were in jail?!”

Tord prepared another fire blast, “I was until they figured out it wasn’t me that attacked the lady...I mean queen...or whatever she is!”

The man got back up, weaving past another ball of fire and then seeming to disappear into thin air. The four huddled together back to back, trying to figure out where the man went. 

“How did he do that?!” King Matthias shouted in fright, eyes darting around the balcony. The fire Tord started growing brighter, not exactly helping the situation.

“He must be a changeling.” Tom growled. He sniffed the air, zeroing in on the inhuman scent that was coming closer to the king despite nothing being there, “Found you!” Tom lunged out at what looked like thin air, baring his fangs and breathing sparks. He latched onto something invisible and tackled it to the ground. With a screech, the man blipped back into view. For a few moments the man’s skin was a sickly gray and his eyes an eerie white color, but it shifted back to normal colors in a matter of seconds.

“GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF GET-” The man shouted, trying to pull Tom off without much luck. The more he struggled, the deeper Tom dug his fangs into the man’s shoulder. 

The others ran over to help apprehend the man, only for King Matthias to get thwacked over the head by a floating book and Sir Edd to trip over nothing. Tord froze in place to keep himself from the same fate. He recognized the floating book immediately. The spell book he left in his cell was moving all on it’s own.

“Tom!” Tord shouted, trying to warn him before the book could attack him the same way. He was too late. The book hit Tom over the head hard enough to make him let go of the man’s shoulder. An invisible force kicked him away before revealing itself to be the servant with the scar from before. 

“C’mon, I got it. Let’s go!” He shouted, pulling up his accomplice and running for the balcony, “Thanks for the free spell book!” He taunted, glancing back, “The Order of  Kúzlo sends its regards!” 

Sprouting wings, the one with a scar flew off with the book and his accomplice.


	9. Update

Sorry for the lack of updates recently! Writer's block hit despite my best efforts to get around it. I do have a chapter currently in development, but it's going much slower. And unfortunately, my health has started to become an issue, so that isn't exactly helping either. Long story short, life was going too well for me, so I got double whammied by a UTI and an unprovoked seizure on the Fourth of July. I'm fine now thankfully, but it's still stressful. Like I said, I am going to be working on updates as much as possible, but there's irl things that are going to be needing more of my attention. Thank you for the understanding, and see you in the next chapter! ^_^


	10. On the Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm finally back! This chapter took forever, but then again I made it way longer than normal. Sorry for any grammatical mistakes or the like. I felt bad for making everyone wait so long, so I just posted this the minute I got done.

It had been a long time since Sir Edd had to leave the city walls. For the longest time his job was just to guard the castle and command his troops on the battlefield. Yet here he was, travelling along the roads out of the city, and no clear idea of where he was going or when he would return. He looked back at the gates one last time, running his hand along Ringo’s mane.

Of course, he wasn’t alone. Riding behind him was his king, and of course Tom and Tord. Matthias was the one that suggested going after the would-be assassins in the first place. For what reason, he had no clue, but part of him had an idea. As for the other two, Tord insisted on them going because of the book that was stolen from him, and Tom was just eager to get out of the castle.

Outside of the city walls was a vast expanse of open field. Dirt roads cut through the dense grass and wildflowers. The sky was overcast and left the air to be chilly. In the distance a herd of deer was grazing amongst a small pond. The natural scene was disrupted by the path of red light trailing down the dirt road as their guide. 

The group rode in relative silence. Tom made the most noise out of all of them because of his horse. His horse wasn’t fully trained, so it’s wild streak made it want to buck Tom off any chance it got. What made it worse was that it was scared of Tom.

“Stop it!” He growled, clinging desperately to the horn of the saddle just so he wouldn’t go flying, “How the hell am I supposed to control this thing?!”

Sir Edd glanced back, slowing Ringo as to get right next to Tom and his horse, “First off, his name is Tomee. And second-” He pushed Tom back onto the saddle and forced him into an upright position, “You have better balance sitting up.” He patted Tomee’s snout and whispered something to it in a baby voice. The horse gradually calmed down and trotted along with the others.

Tom didn’t have time to say anything before Sir Edd retook his place in front of the group. It was best to keep his eyes on the road, He heard his fair share of stories through rumors at the tavern. Bands of bandits, mercenaries, petty thieves, and dangerous wild animals like bears and wolves would attack unsuspecting travelers. With having the king in his party, the group was the perfect target for any such attackers.

He hummed a tune to himself as he went along. He heard it many times in the tavern from the drunks who would howl the song in between bouts of laughter. It was a jaunty little tune about local fairytales. Then a thought came to his mind, and he couldn’t help but ask, “Hey Tord, do you have any stories from your home?”

King Matthias clapped eagerly, “Ooh, good idea! A story will make this trip go much faster!”

Tord shrugged. He wasn’t one for storytelling, and at that moment he was too busy with making sure he kept the glowing trail up to really do anything else, “Ask the lizard.”

King Matthias turned his head expectantly to Tom, who was glaring at Tord for throwing him into the spotlight, “Tom please?” Matthias pleaded, giving him puppy eyes.

Tom groaned. He racked his brain for a while, trying to remember some sort of story. He never heard them himself as a child. He learned about them later on in life, so it didn’t really have the same charm with him as it did with others, “Well uh...There was once a little...a little drake named Tom. Yeah, Tom the drake was really sad because his parents were not there...Wait, no, they were there, but not drakes like him. The mom was a cannonball and the dad was a carrot.”

King Matthias raised his hand, “How do a cannonball and a carrot make a drake?”

Tord piped up with a smirk, “Well, when two objects love each other very much-”

“Hush it!” Tom snapped, shoving him in the arm, “Anyway, that’s not important because the parents weren’t always like that. Originally they were drakes like Tom, but then one day, a magic rat named...let’s call him Tord for the sake of it. Yeah, Tord the magic rat came in one day and decided he was going to be a little sh*t. So using his magic twig, he turned Tom the drake’s parents into a cannonball and a carrot. And when he was done, he went running off with his squeaky little laugh to go look for cheese or something.”

Tord shouted over him, “Hey, my laugh isn’t squeaky! And I turned into a rat one time, why are you still stuck on that?!”

Tom roared in reply, “Naughty children who interrupt the speaker get punched in the face. Do you want punched in the face Tord? No? Good, let me finish.” He cleared his throat. Sir Edd and King Matthias were giggling at the other two bickering like an old married couple. Tom picked up where he left off, “Anyways, Tom the drake was reasonably p*ssed off about this. So he chased after the magic rat, caught it, and burnt it to a little crisp. The end.”

Tord rode up closer to Sir Edd, feeling uneasy riding next to someone that essentially told a story about burning him alive for accidentally misfiring some transfiguration spells at his parents that one time. Sir Edd really didn’t mind. He would rather have the two of them seperate anyway. The last thing he needed was them fighting and destroying something.

The sky crawled through the sky, going higher and higher until it finally hung directly overhead with a blazing heat. The road continued to wind its way through a shadeless field, which for Sir Edd felt more like an oven. Even Ringo was starting to slow in exhaustion. 

“Perhaps,” King Matthias panted, tugging on the collar of his shirt, “We should stop to rest. At least until the heat fades a bit.” He was really starting to regret wearing so many layers. 

Sir Edd slipped his helmet off his head and wiped his brow with the edge of his green cloak, “There’s no place to stop.”

The group trudged ahead slowly. Sir Edd had taken off most of his armor to reveal the plain, sweat drenched clothing underneath. Tord pulled down his hood for the first time, and his wet hair made his pointy ears all the more noticeable. King Matthias struggled to pull off his fur cape. The only one that seemed unaffected by the heat was Tom. There wasn’t a single bead of sweat on his skin.

“Why are you guys complaining, it feels great out here.” He questioned, slightly tilting his head as his ears twitched, “Perfectly warm.” He purred, stretching his arms over his head.

“Maybe to you, cold blood,” Tord hissed, too hot to much else.

Tom rolled his eyes. Thanks to being a drake, heat was no problem to him. If anything, it was a benefit. He felt more energized than ever. He could run whole laps around the field and still have power to spare.

Edd groaned. He clenched his eyes, praying for any bit of shade or a river or something. Luckily, his prayers were answered. Up ahead was a small patch of trees surrounding what looked like an abandoned cabin. He raced over as fast as he could get Ringo to go, and the others followed. 

The others tiredly cheered, flopping down under the nearest tree. Tom took it upon himself to take care of the horses, shaking his head at how dramatic his party members were being, “I’m guessing none of you want to move any time soon?” All he got as a response was a collective groan.

He could really care less what they were doing. At least in the shade they weren’t complaining as much. His concern was turned more toward the cabin. Something about it gave him a strange feeling, like he was being watched. Any time he got close to the place he could swear he smelled something, but what it was exactly he couldn’t tell. All he knew is that he didn’t like it. Tom paced around a bit in wait of whatever was in there to show itself, but nothing ever did.

He padded back over to the others, “I’m heading into the cabin to check it out. Anyone want to come with me?”

King Matthias reluctantly pulled himself up using Tom’s horn like a handle, “I will.” He told the others to wait for him, and neither one argued with him about it.

Tom grumbled something under his breath before making his way to the cabin door. Nature had reclaimed most of the building. All that was left was a splintering shell held up by vines and trees. The door turned into dust in Matthias’s hands.

Both were hit by a puff of old air and dust as they entered. Spiders made their homes in every available corner. Most of the floor was dirt with weeds and stones poking their way through. A strange circular symbol was painted on the wall and on the door leading out of the main room. 

“What on earth is this?” Matthias muttered to himself, running his fingers along the cracked black paint, “Some sort of witchcraft?”

Tom searched around for himself in what remained of the furniture. A black cauldron hung in the web filled fireplace, and the stench alone was enough to tell him someone didn’t clean it out. However, this was not what he smelled outside, “You said magic didn’t exist in this world though.” Tom commented, peeking in the cupboards.

“Well, that’s what Edd says,” Matthias huffed, “He thinks it’s all fairy tale nonsense, but this really can’t be anything else but witches, right?”

Tom shrugged, “Or a cult. They do some freaky stuff too.” He decided to finally look at what was making the king so worried, “Looks like-” He reached out to touch it, and then suddenly jumped away, landing on his back.

“TOM!” Matthias shouted in surprise, bending down to check on him, “What-”

Tom groaned, ears folding back as he used his tail to push himself upright, “Just as I thought. A ward circle. Wizards use these f*cking things all the time to keep beings like me away.” He returned the favor and used Matthias’s head to pull himself up, “I couldn’t get close to that thing if I tried.”

Matthias’s eyes widened, darting from one circle to another. Someone had to have made them, and that someone must have been magic like Tord. Part of him wanted to call for Sir Edd and prove that he was wrong about magic being fake. A sudden sound from upstairs silenced him. Both men fell silent. Straining their ears, they could make out a voice talking to themself.

“Yes...I understand...Don’t worry, I can handle it...We will not fail...We’re keeping tabs on them…” The voice said as if talking to someone else. But as far as Tom and Matthias could tell, there was only one voice, “I’m looking at two of them right now...The knight and the idiot in red...Don’t worry, the other two are here too...Alright...Thank you…”

Something heavy moved above them, causing the wood to creak from the weight. Tom let out a low growl, baring his fangs and glaring down the door with the ward, “Something’s coming. Get behind me, now!” Tom commanded, tail thrashing back and forth angrily.

Matthias did as he was told with a panicked shriek. Just as he did, a wild animal came bursting through the door. A grizzly bear. It charged at them, roaring with all its might. 

Tom charged after it, horns pointed ahead like a ram’s. He speared the bear in the arm, but left himself completely open. The bear smacked him away, deeply clawing his back in the process. 

Matthias shouted his name, but couldn’t do anything to help as the bear turned it’s fury to him. Matthias jumped out of the way of the swinging claws and grabbed the nearest thing he could find: a broom.

“Bad bear!” He shouted, smacking the bear in the face with the broom, “Bad!”

This only pissed the bear off more, causing it to lash out and snap the broom in half. It roared at the king. The beast loomed over him with eyes almost glowing red with wild fury. Matthias shuddered, backing up against the wall with no way out. If he tried to run, he would get torn apart. He already tried fighting back, and all it got him was a broken broom. 

Matthias took a deep breath, mustering up all his strength before shouting as loud as he could, “EDD! TORD! HELP ME!”

The bear lunged forward, fangs bared and ready to rip the defenseless king into royal confetti. Matthias covered his eyes and screamed. After a few moments of suspense, he peeked out from behind his fingers. The beast was almost on him, yet somehow he was still in one piece. Just inches from his face was the bear. Something stopped it from coming closer. Matthias let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

“Sire!” Sir Edd shouted, running over, “Are you okay, my lord?” He kneeled down, checking over his king. Luckily the most he found was some scratches. He glared at the bear and dragged Matthias away from it. 

Wrapped around the bear’s ankles were shadowy hands, all leading back to Tord’s staff. He seemed to be talking to someone in his strange magic language, but to who he couldn’t tell. At least, until the bear replied in a gruff, horrifyingly deep voice that used the same language Tord was. Both seemed to be angry at each other, but with the restraints around the bear’s paws, it couldn’t do much.

While the two of them argued amongst themselves, Matthias ran over to check on Tom, who was face down on the floor. Blood stained his back, and was starting to pool around him like a red sea. The drake was unconscious as far as Matthias and Sir Edd could tell. 

“Fetch my bag,” Matthias commanded with a wave of his hand. Sir Edd saluted him and did as he was told. In the meantime, Matthias slipped off Tom’s clothes and used them to wipe up the blood from his skin, revealing the deep gashes from the bear’s claws. He ran his fingers along the cuts, cringing at them. They were most definitely going to leave a scar on the drake’s back. It just made him even more glad he didn’t get hurt. A scar like that would ruin his perfect image. 

Sir Edd soon came back with the bag, and at the same time the bear pushed past, angrily skulking off into the trees, “What was that about?” He asked, confused as to how the bear didn’t attack him.

Tord was red faced and fighting back a few tears. He looked away so that no one would see and just hissed, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Sir Edd got the hint and dropped it immediately. The last thing he needed was to be turned into a frog or something because he stuck his nose in where it didn’t belong. Tord would tell them later anyway. Sir Edd didn’t need to know him very long to figure out that Tord vented on anyone that asked.

He handed Matthias a small box from inside the box, “Here you go.” He said with a hushed voice. 

Matthias took the box and quickly pulled out an assortment of tools and bottles, and got to work closing Tom’s wounds. It didn’t take very long to get done, and soon enough the claw marks were wrapped by bandages. 

“Alright, I’m going to go clean off-” Matthias held Tom’s bloody tunic away from him like it was a diseased rat, “-this. You two start setting up camp. The sun’s going down and to be honest, I don’t want to be attacked by bandits and a bear in the same day.” He didn’t wait to hear their replies. He stepped out of the house with the tunic as far from him as possible, heading for the river.


	11. The Drake Familiar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ngl this one was not my best effort, but it's a bridge into the next event I want to happen. (Of which yet I do not know. Tbh I've been winging everything so far)

The inky black of the night set in fast along with the cold. Seemed like only a few minutes ago all four of them had just started on the road without a care. Sir Edd stoked the fire, humming to himself as sparks flew up from the burning logs. It was a good thing to have a wizard around, especially when you left matches at home. It was much easier to have Tord light it up than to sit there rubbing sticks together. 

As he tended to the flame, Sir Edd made sure to keep an eye on the wizard. He had been acting out of character ever since the encounter with the bear. For once, Tord was completely quiet. No bragging about his magic skills, no teasing the king, and no pranks. He just sat there, staring down at something in his hands. Any other time, Sir Edd would have welcomed him finally calming down, but it was so unnatural. 

Of course, Tom’s condition wasn’t helping matters. Even with healing from both Tord and the king, he was out of it. The best Sir Edd could do was let the drake lay by the fire and rest. “He passed out like that many times before and sprung back just fine.” He told himself, checking on the drake for the seventh time, “I shouldn’t worry.”

King Matthias seemed relatively unfazed by everything. To him, it was just a normal camping trip with friends. He sat at the bank of the river with a makeshift fishing rod, stargazing as he waited for something to bite. "Wow, look how big the moon is!" He gasped in awe.

Sir Edd nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Looks like the full moon is on its way."

Tord grumbled something under his breath before throwing what he had in his hands into the river.

"Something wrong?" Sir Edd asked quietly, hoping now would be a good time to figure out what was going on.

Tord shot a glare at him, "None of your business, human," He snapped, “Why do you care anyway?”

Sir Edd replied, “Well, you were acting odd, so I was wondering why.”

Tord scoffed, hopping up to kick some stray rocks around, “You humans are so fickle. First you want me to shut up and go away, and then when I do, you suddenly want me to talk.” He sent a rock flying into a tree, knocking down a flurry of leaves, “You sound just like Pa-” As he started to say the name, he cut himself off and fell silent. He was trying not to think about those two, and yet he went and brought them up like an idiot. 

Sir Edd got up and cautiously placed a hand on the wizard’s shoulder. He had no clue what was going on, but calming him down was the best he could do. At that moment, he saw something he thought he never would: a tear. A single tear rolling down Tord’s cheek.

“T-” He started to say before the wizard hushed him.

“It’s fine,” Tord grumbled, wiping it away on his sleeve, “Just leave me alone,” He walked off into the trees without another word. As much as Sir Edd wanted to follow him, he let him go. He didn’t know what to say, and it was better for him to just let Tord sort things out for himself. 

He sat back down at the fire and tended to the flames, spacing out as he threw in dry sticks and leaves.

“No fish,” King Matthias sighed, flopping down on a log across from the knight, “Good thing I brought some rations.” He glanced around the circle, noticing they were one person short, “Where’s Todd?”

Sir Edd shrugged, “He got upset and ran off. It’s probably best we give him some space for now.” 

The two stayed silent, eating the rations of bread the king had brought. Tord didn’t return for the whole night. Sir Edd didn’t dare go looking for him. The last thing he needed was to start some drama over something that didn’t even involve him. Putting out the fire for the night, he carried the unconscious Tom into his tent and went to sleep.

Soon enough, night turned into day, and Tom was first to wake up. His back stung like hell, and everytime he tried to sit up, he was overcome with dizziness. He thought to himself, “If I had a coin for every time I got injured in this hellhole of a world, I would have a gold horde that could touch the sun.”

He racked his brain trying to remember what happened before he was knocked out. Flashes of an enraged bear and Matthias’s screaming was the most he could recall. Oddly enough, he could have sworn he saw that bear before. He suddenly shot up and shouted “PAULSON!”. That bear was Tord’s familiar, he saw him plenty of times before when Tord would invite himself into his den. 

Sir Edd shot up from his bed roll with a shriek, “Reporting for duty, sir!” He saluted while half asleep, taking a moment to process where he was, “Oh, right, I’m not in boot camp.” He slowly lowered his arms in embarrassment, “Oh, hey, you’re awake Tom. Feeling any better?”

“Aside from pain and the world spinning? Yes, I’m great.” Tom grumbled sarcastically, “The minute I see Tord again, I’m slapping him for every scar his familiar gave me.”

“Familiar?” Sir Edd questioned.

Tom slowly pulled himself up, but then layed back down as the world started spinning out of control, “His minions? They turn into animals for some reason, and one of them was that bear. Tord probably sent him on me as a prank.”

Sir Edd sighed, “Yeah, that’s...unlikely. Kinda explains why he was so upset about it though.” He rolled out from under the covers and helped Tom up, “Speaking of that, we should probably go find him. He’s been gone all night long.” 

Tom couldn’t help but lean against the knight just to keep himself from falling over, “Yeah, no. If he goes missing, fine by me. I’ll just find my own way home.”

Finally tired of listening to him, Sir Edd scolded him like a mother to her child, “Look, I get it. You two don’t like each other, but you need to suck it up and act like adults. The king and I are trying to help you, and if you two don’t stop, I’m turning this party around and locking you both in the dungeon so that you two can hold hands forever. Do I make myself clear, young man?”

Tom instinctively whimpered out, “Okay Mom,” before turning bright red, “F*CK, I DIDN’T MEAN- EDD, STOP LAUGHING.”

Sir Edd was hanging onto Tom for dear life just to keep himself from falling over. He could barely breath from how much he was laughing. The genuineness of Tom calling him “Mom” was just too much for him.

“Edd, are you okay?” King Matthias poked his head into the tent, “I thought I heard a hyena in here.” His eyes lit up upon seeing Tom up and moving, “Oh! Tim’s awake! Thank goodness!” He tilted his head a bit in confusion, “Wait, why is he so red?”

Sir Edd wheezed, clutching his belly, “He called me mom.”

“IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!” Tom roared, lightly punching Sir Edd in the shoulder with a growl. The king joined in as Tom stood there growing redder and redder with rage and embarrassment, “You guys are assholes!”

He stormed out of the tent, ears folded flat against his head and tail thrashing angrily behind him. He shot a glare back at the others, who were still laughing at him. Not looking where he was going, he bumped into something and almost fell flat on his back.

“Pay attention to where you’re going, drage,” Tord hummed, looking down at Tom with an oddly blank expression, “You can hurt yourself.” He reached out his hand to help him up, but Tom refused.

“I can get up on my own,” Tom growled, “You’re lucky I can’t burn you for what that familiar of yours did to me.” He spat with an angry glare, still bright red. The others’ laughter had finally started to calm down, but no one left the tent.

“They aren’t my familiars anymore.” Tord sighed, rummaging for something in his pocket, “It’s a long story. But I did figure something out while I was gone. You might find it interesting.”

Tom’s ears perked up, “Really? Must be good for you to bother bringing it up to me.”

Tord nodded, “I can share my magic with you so you can use your draconic powers, but it only works if…” He paused, looking down at his feet. Tom’s tail twitched anxiously, but he didn’t let it show on his face. Not once did Tord make a jab at him or act all high and mighty. For him to be so out of character, either something else happened that Tord wasn’t telling, or it was something truly awful for both of them, “...You have to be my familiar for it to work.”

Tom groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Yep, hit the nail on the head- Are you sure there isn’t some fancy spell or crystal or something you can’t just give me?”  
“You think I’m thrilled about it?!” Tord shouted, for a brief moment slipping back into his normal self, “...Sorry. Look, it’s not a permanent thing. I’ll release you as soon as we go home. But right now, it will be more helpful to have a drake than a weaponized human. Not to mention we can get around faster than on these horses.”

“I...Fine. But any funny business and I will turn you into fried chicken.” Tom begrudgingly agreed, grumbling under his breath about how stupid it was.

Sir Edd and King Matthias poked their heads out as Tom and Tord shook hands on the deal. Tord’s staff sparked for a brief moment, and Tord grabbed something from it before looking over to Sir Edd, “We’ll be getting along now, no need to worry.” He held up what he took from a staff: a blue crystal totem of a dragon, “He’s my familiar now, so he’ll be able to actually be helpful in battle.”

Sir Edd stepped out, “No clue what that means, but glad to see you two finally acting civil.” He checked the sky with a hum, “Looks like it’s going to be a bit overcast, but hey, no sun means I won’t fry in my armor.”

The party gathered around the campfire, planning out their route and cooking some rations. The whole time, Tom kept an eye on Tord. He was acting way too nice and quiet. Something was definitely wrong, but asking was pointless. The most he could figure was that it had something to do with Patrick and Paulson. 

Not long after, the group set back out on the path, following Tord’s staff. 


End file.
